The Touch of Death

One, two, three. Quick, quick, quick. The feet pounded along the forest floor, death in their wake. Wherever her feet landed, plants shriveled and curled in on themselves, the life ebbed out of them. 

Her ebony black hair flowed behind her like a cloak, and every tree that felt even the slightest touch crackled and darkened. 

The black seemed to spread out behind her, almost as if the forest itself had become a cloak.

She paid no heed to the sticks that impaled her feet, or the thorns and branches that whipped across her arms and face.

"You have to learn to control it." 

She could still hear her father's words echoing in her head, a final warning. Tears fell freely from her eyes, as every emotion raged out of her body. 

Her name was Evel, and she had been cursed with the Touch of Death. 

~~~

Travelers used to say that if you crossed to the other side of the forest, a perilous journey, the land was black and barren, with no life for miles. They used to tell legends of a black-haired beauty who left only destruction in her wake. They spoke of her parents, who were killed by her touch. They spoke of her flight, how on that day she ran into the woods, leaving a telltale path behind. 

She had gone crazy, they said. She lost all empathy for all other living creatures, and mercy was no longer a word that she knew. A part of her had died with her parents, and now she was a monster.

And they used to say that if you managed to cross the forest, which held plants and animals that no mortal should ever see, animals with too many limbs and teeth, and plants that moved of their own accord, and eyes. Eyes everywhere, for she always knew when you were coming. 

And she was always waiting.

They said if you met her, then you never came back. 

Of course the next part of the story only a few souls even remembered. Old men would whisper about it on stormy nights. 

They said if you happened to meet Death, not only would you fall in love on sight, you were dragged down with her to the underworld. 

Not that anyone was around to confirm this. These days, not even teenagers braved that forest, no matter how many drinks they’d had. It didn't matter how drunk or stupid you were, you stayed away from the forest. It was a death wish and one that no one dared test. 

That is, at least until Rowan Casey came out of the forest looking like he’d never left the village.

The only problem was, Rowan disappeared when she did. Which was over ten years ago. And if she had become death incarnate, exactly what the Hell was Rowan?

~~~

The tavernkeeper looked up as a ruddy-faced boy with dirt streaked across his face stumbled into his bar, heaving for air. The boy looked up, blue eyes shining, and drew in just enough air to shout, “Rowan! He’s back!” before taking off to the cobblers across the street. The glass the tavernkeeper had been wiping slipped from his hands, shattering against the uneven floorboards as he ran out into the street. 

~~~

Shouts filled the town as barefoot children ran among women in skirts, and men in heavy boots. The pounding of feet and hooves and claws among the cobblestones was deafening, for even the animals seemed to know that this was something they wouldn’t want to miss. The news that he was back had traveled faster than wildfire. Naturally, they all gathered in the town square, for where else could this momentous of an event take place?

~~~

She could hear their voices. She could hear the panic and excitement, amazement and fear, the nervousness and wonder as every living thing drank in the sight of Rowan. Her Rowan. Her sweet, loving Rowan. She missed him already. She sighed, one of the first sounds she had made in a very long time. At least he had made it back. She knew it would raise more questions than answers, but all that mattered was that he was safe. Because Hell was rising, and she was coming with it. 

~~~

He looked around in the bright sunlight and saw so many faces swimming before him, so many voices, so many people, and they were so loud. He didn't recognize anything around him. Wait. Where was she? She had just been here. She had been right by his side. He swiveled his head around too fast, and his vision grew blurry. Where was she? Hands reached out to steady him, but he hardly took notice, his focus was all on the girl missing from his side. This couldn't be right, she had just been with him. Where was his Evel?

~~~

She screamed as her hands curled into claws and her flesh melted off her bones, leaving a gruesome image in its wake. Her horns were no longer nubs, but foot long curled weapons, shiny and sharp. Her green eyes, which had become more of a red, become blacker than her hair once was. Her torso shifted and stretched, until she was over ten feet tall. No longer was her scream human, but an eerie piercing sound, which every living creature felt reverberate through their very blood. Her human legs had turned into long, sinewy limbs which seemed to bend in all the wrong ways. Her form curled, and what was once her screams rose as sharp bone pierced her back, creating spikes that went along what was once her spine. Her mouth widened, and her teeth lengthened and grew to a point, venom dripping from the ends. The final result was a hideous combination of bone and blood and muscle and poison. It was a sight that would have made any human go insane, for it was far too horrible for the brain to comprehend.

Her last human thought was that she was glad he was safe.

And that's when she became the monster everyone thought she was.